Gastric Banding Surgery Introduction

Gastric banding surgery, also known as Lap-Band® surgery, does not require stomach cutting and stapling or gastrointestinal re-routing to bypass normal digestion. It's the only adjustable and reversible weight-loss surgery available in the United States. It's also the only weight-loss surgery approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Designed to help you lose excess body weight, improve weight-related health conditions and enhance your quality of life, gastric banding surgery reduces your stomach's capacity and restricts the amount of food that can be consumed at one time. Since there is no stomach cutting, stapling, or gastrointestinal re-routing involved, the risks of gastric banding are minimal. In fact, it's considered the safest, least invasive and least traumatic of all weight-loss surgeries.

Gastric Banding Surgery Details

Surgeons use laparoscopic techniques (making tiny incisions rather than a large incision and inserting long-shafted instruments through "ports"), to wrap the band around the patient's stomach. A narrow camera is passed through a port so the surgeon can view the operative site on a video monitor. The band is fastened around the upper stomach to create the new pouch that limits and controls the amount of food you eat. The band is then locked securely in a ring around the stomach.

Once placed around the stomach, tubing connects the system to an access port that is fixed beneath the skin of your abdomen. By doing so, it allows surgeons to change the stoma (stomach outlet) size by adding or subtracting saline (salt water) inside the inner balloon through the access port. This adjustment process helps determine the rate of weight loss. If the band is too loose and weight loss is inadequate, adding more saline can reduce the size of the stoma to further restrict the amount of food that can move through it. If the band is too tight, the surgeon will remove saline to loosen the band and reduce the amount of restriction.

The diameter of the band can be modified to meet your individual needs, which can change as you lose weight. For example, pregnant patients can expand their band to accommodate the growth of both mom and baby.

The laparoscopic approach to gastric banding also has the advantages of reduced post-operative pain, shortened hospital stay, and quicker recovery. And the system can be removed by surgeons at any time, further reducing the risks of gastric banding.

To view all the advantages of gastric banding, click here.